Network Planning and Optimization of Equipment Deployment

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, devices and methods for improving the efficient deployment and configuration of networking equipment within a network build-out. In certain embodiments of the invention, an iterative analysis of inter-node equipment placement and connectivity, and inter- and intra-node traffic flow is performed to identify a preferred deployment solution. This analysis of deployment optimization takes into account both configurations from a network node perspective as well as from a network system perspective. Deployment solutions are iteratively progressed and analyzed to determine a preferred solution based on both the cost of deployment and satisfaction of the network demands. In various embodiments of the invention, a baseline marker is generated from which the accuracy of the solution may be approximated that suggests to an engineer whether the deployment is approaching an optimal solution.

BACKGROUND

A. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the deployment of equipmentwithin a network, and more particularly, to an analysis of networkequipment deployment relative to optimization factors includingintra-nodal routing and post-processing heuristics.

B. Background of the Invention

The deployment of a cost-effective and fault tolerant network can oftenbe a complex task. This deployment requires that the equipment cost andnetwork performance should be properly balanced to find an appropriatesolution for a network provider. As the number of nodes or sites withina network scales, the difficulty in finding this properly balancedsolution becomes increasingly complex.

In building out a network, a network service provider may give anequipment manufacturer a number of different parameters and request thatthe manufacturer provide a cost estimate for the build-out. For example,the equipment manufacturer may be provided certain network demandsincluding a topology of the network, a description of each of therelevant sites within the network, and the connectivity and bandwidthrequirements between these sites. The equipment manufacturer is expectedto processes these parameters and design a deployment that satisfiesthese parameters while maintaining use of equipment requirements by anetwork service provider.

Deployment solutions generated by different equipment manufacturers maysignificantly vary depending on the manner in which it was created andthe factors that were considered. It is not uncommon to have differentsolutions that widely vary in the amount of equipment to be deployed aswell as the configuration thereof. An equipment provider may lose adeployment bid if its deployment proposal is too expensive (i.e., theamount of equipment deployed is more than required to satisfy thenetwork parameters) or the equipment configuration is not able tosatisfy all of the demands.

One skilled in the art will recognize that oftentimes there is not ametric from which the accuracy of a proposed deployment may beapproximated. In the case of a simple deployment, a network engineer mayrely on past experience to judge the quality of a proposed deploymentrelative to the requirements of the network. However, as the size and/orcomplexity of the deployment increases, this off-the-cuff judgmentoftentimes fails due to the sheer magnitude of analysis required togenerate the proposal. An equipment provider may analyze a proposeddeployment to ensure that the network parameters are met, but thisproposed deployment is oftentimes not sufficiently analyzed to determinewhether a more cost-effective deployment is available that stillsatisfies the network demands. Accordingly, an equipment manufacturerruns a risk of over-deploying equipment within a network solution tomeet particular network parameters set forth by the network serviceprovider.

Accordingly, what is desired are systems, devices and methods thataddress the above-described deficiencies within the prior-art networkplanning and equipment deployment solutions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, devices andmethods for improving the efficient deployment and configuration ofnetworking equipment within a network build-out. In certain embodimentsof the invention, an iterative analysis of inter-node equipmentplacement and connectivity, and inter- and intra-node traffic flow isperformed to identify a preferred deployment solution. This analysis ofdeployment optimization takes into account both configurations from anetwork node perspective as well as from a network system perspective.Deployment solutions are iteratively progressed and analyzed todetermine a preferred solution based on both the cost of deployment andsatisfaction of the network demands. In various embodiments of theinvention, a baseline marker is generated from which the accuracy of thesolution may be approximated that suggests to an engineer whether thedeployment is approaching an optimal solution.

Initial methods are performed that determine an initial number of linecards to be inserted within a chassis to support the required trafficdemands of the corresponding node. A set of transport-side line cardsare determined to ensure that sufficient bandwidth and connectivity isprovided within a node to satisfy all transport-side demands of thedeployment. A set of client-side line cards are determined to ensurethat sufficient bandwidth and connectivity provided within a node tosatisfy all client-side demands of the deployment. In variousembodiments of the invention, the placement of these line cards may bedetermined to enhance the performance of the node or improve the degreesof freedom of the chassis to make a subsequent use or expansion of thechassis relatively easier.

Post-processing heuristics are applied to these sets of line cards in anattempt to reduce the amount of equipment, including line cards andchassis, deployed while still ensuring that the deployment demands aresatisfied. In various embodiments of the invention, the fractionalutilization on multiple line cards is analyzed to try and improve thecapacity utilization of line cards within a chassis. If this line cardcapacity utilization is sufficiently improved, then a reduction in theamount of equipment required in the deployment of the network andgreater degrees of freedom for future demands on the node may berealized.

In certain embodiments of the invention, reordering of nodal flows isperformed to determine if there is a more efficient placement of linecards at a node with respect to chassis backplane connectivity and theassignment of traffic demands to those line cards in order to reduce theoverall count of line cards within the network. For example, reorderingof line card positions may provide a more efficient use of backplanebandwidth and would potentially reduce the number of line cards requiredto service traffic on the node.

In certain embodiments of the invention, client-side line cardoptimization is performed so to reduce the number of transport-side linecards required to service a particular number of client-side ports. Thisclient-side line card optimization comprises reordering client-sideports to improve the utilization of transport-line cards.

Other equipment may also be analyzed in an attempt to reduce the overalldeployment. For example, cards that don't have ports, but that providecertain functionality within the node such as bandwidth expansion, nodemanagement, or power delivery, may be analyzed to identifyinefficiencies within a particular deployment configuration.

Embodiments of the invention provide for localized, nodal analysis andreconfigurations, and subsequent monitoring of network effects of thesereconfigurations. These system-level effects of nodal reconfigurationsare monitored to iteratively identify improvements in deploymentefficiencies within an entire network deployment that result from nodaloptimization operations.

These various deployment configurations are iteratively analyzed until apreferred deployment configuration is identified. The accuracy of thispreferred configuration may be scrutinized relative to a baseline markerthat is generated from a subset or portion of the demands used togenerate the preferred deployment configuration. The actual set ofdemands used to generate the baseline marker may be adjusted by anengineer depending on the deployment scenario. The baseline marker isdetermined by relaxing the constraints placed on all demands. Theseconstraints include backplane restrictions and inter-chassis routingrestrictions at a given node. Relaxing the constraints reduces thecomplexity of the problem greatly allowing a minimum of equipment to beestablished. This baseline can be scrutinized and compared to the finalsolution to approximate and evaluate the effectiveness of the finalsolution

Certain features and advantages of the present invention have beengenerally described in this summary section; however, additionalfeatures, advantages, and embodiments are presented herein or will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings,specification, and claims hereof. Accordingly, it should be understoodthat the scope of the invention shall not be limited by the particularembodiments disclosed in this summary section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples ofwhich may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures areintended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention isgenerally described in the context of these embodiments, it should beunderstood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the inventionto these particular embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a general illustration of a transport network having terminalsites, drop sites and intermediary sites.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network planning tool in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary network site comprising aplurality of line cards.

FIG. 4 generally illustrates a terminal or drop site comprising aplurality of line cards in accordance with various embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating the chassisbandwidth connectivity provided by the backplane in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a network planning tool andconfiguration baseline marker generator in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 is an illustration showing a relationship between a baselinemarker and a heuristic in accordance with various embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for intra-nodal optimizationin accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for optimizing bandwidthutilization of line cards in accordance with various embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for reordering of nodalflows for line card packing at a network site in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 11A is an illustration showing improvement of line card utilizationin accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 11B and 11C are illustrations showing improvement of nodal flowwithin a multi-chassis node in accordance with various embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method for circuit ordering basedon nodal flow search according to various embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, devices andmethods for improving the efficient deployment and configuration ofnetworking equipment within a network build-out. In certain embodimentsof the invention, an iterative analysis of inter-node equipmentplacement and connectivity, and inter- and intra-node traffic flow isperformed to identify a preferred deployment solution. This analysis ofdeployment optimization takes into account both configurations from anetwork node perspective as well as from a network system perspective.Deployment solutions are iteratively progressed and analyzed todetermine a preferred solution based on both the cost of deployment andsatisfaction of the network demands. In various embodiments of theinvention, a baseline marker is generated from which the accuracy of thesolution may be approximated that suggests to an engineer whether thedeployment has approached an optimal solution.

In the following description, for purpose of explanation, specificdetails are set forth in order to provide an understanding of theinvention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art thatthe invention may be practiced without these details. One skilled in theart will recognize that embodiments of the present invention, some ofwhich are described below, may be incorporated into a number ofcomputing and/or network devices. Structures and devices shown below inblock diagram are illustrative of exemplary embodiments of the inventionand are meant to avoid obscuring the invention. Furthermore, connectionsbetween components within the figures are not intended to be limited todirect connections. Rather, connections between these components may bemodified, re-formatted or otherwise changed by intermediary components.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or functiondescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network topology in which an equipmentdeployment may be proposed. A transport network 100 is shown in whichterminal nodes 110 and drop nodes 120 are connected by a plurality ofintermediary nodes 130. A terminal node 110 is a node that is able toreceive information from a client and transmit this client data on thetransport network 100. The terminal node 110 has only one link directionand is also able to receive transport frames, extract client data fromthese frames, and transmit the client data to a client gateway ordevice.

Intermediary nodes 130 provide connectivity through the transportnetwork 110 and switch transport frames between relevant nodes. Anintermediary node 130 may also include functionality such as signalregeneration, realigning, re-timing, etc. to improve communicationthrough the network 110.

An add/drop node 120 has one or more link directions and contains thesame data conversion and mapping functionality within a terminal node.Additionally, an add/drop node 120 may also comprise reconfigurableoptical add/drop nodes (hereinafter, “ROADMs”) or express-thru nodesthat optically switch traffic within the dataplane of the network.

These nodes are connected by links that contain one or more circuitsthat communicate data between the nodes. Certain of these links may bedefined as candidate links, which are discussed in more detail below,for which line card and backplane bandwidth utilization may potentiallybe improved.

As previously discussed, a network equipment manufacturer may beprovided such a network topology, including information about theconnectivity and bandwidth, between the network nodes so that adeployment proposal may be generated. This deployment proposal includesa node-by-node site configuration and fiber connectivity plan in whichthe network is to be constructed. Embodiments of the invention provide anetwork planning tool that accounts for constraints on each of the nodesas well as constraints on the network at a system level.

FIG. 2 illustrates a general block diagram of a network planning tool.The network planning tool 210 receives network demands or parameters 220that describe a network in which an equipment deployment is to occur. Aspreviously discussed, these network parameters 220 may include numerousdifferent network characteristics, network topologies, and nodalcharacteristics. The network planning tool 210 processes theseparameters 220 and generates an equipment deployment and demand routinginstructions 230 that satisfies these parameters 220. However, aspreviously discussed, this deployment may not be optimal and mayover-deploy equipment because of its non-optimal design.

The network parameters 220 may comprise the name, type and label ofnodes within the network. These parameters 220 may also include linkcharacteristics such and source and destination information, distance,loss, fiber type and maximum number of channels within the link. Theparameters 220 may further include network demand sets such as sourceand destination information, the number of circuits, protection types,diversity options, and service types (e.g., STM/SONET, Ethernet, FibreChannel, etc.). Network characteristics may also be included within theparameters 220 such as greenfield network design requirements andbrownfield network design requirements.

The network parameters 220 may further include equipment characteristicssuch as equipment properties and costs, release dependencies andavailabilities, routing options, equipment configuration options, andoptical link design options.

Embodiments of the invention reduce the risk of over-deployment byiteratively analyzing characteristics of multiple deploymentconfigurations at both network node and network system granularities sothat a preferred deployment configuration may be accepted. A significantfeature of this deployment is the configuration of line cards, bothtransport-side cards and client-side cards, and physical placement ofthese cards between and within chassis slots in these different types ofsites of the network.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an intermediary node that may beoptimized in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. Theintermediary node 300 may comprise a single chassis or multiple chasses340, as shown in this figure, depending on the particular deploymentconfiguration. The intermediary node 300 communicates traffic within thetransport network 100 by switching this traffic across a plurality oftransport-side line cards deployed within the chassis or chasses 340 inthe node. These transport-side line cards 310 may operate in accordancewith various protocols (both standards-based and proprietary) andinclude various types of cards including integrated optic cards such asa Digital Line Module described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/267,212, entitled “Digital Optical Network Architecture.” The trafficbetween these transport-side line cards 310 is communicated within thesite via one or more backplanes or inter-node connections 350.

The backplane/inter-node connectivity 350 may comprise one or more ofvarious types of backplanes known in the art including, but not limitedto, blocking or non-blocking types having various structural topologiessuch as ring topologies, full mesh topologies, and partial meshtopologies. This connectivity may also be realized without a backplaneby devices such as ROADMs or patch cables coupling ports within thesite. Additionally, this connectivity may include a combination of abackplane and other devices such as ROADMs or patch cables.

It is important to note that various other components may be locatedbetween a line card and the backplane. These components may providevarious functionality including switching, error correction, framing,inter-chassis traffic flow etc.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a terminal or drop node that maybe optimized in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.Similar to an intermediary node, the terminal or drop node 400 maycomprise a single chassis or multiple chasses 440 depending on theparticular deployment configuration. The terminal and drop nodes 400communicates traffic between a client network or device and thetransport network 100 by switching this client data between a pluralityof transport-side line cards 410 and a plurality of client-side linecards 420 deployed within the chassis or chasses 440 in the node. Theseclient-side line cards 420 may operate in accordance with numerousstandards and contain various functionality. The client-side line cards420 and transport-side line cards 410 are connected via inter-nodeconnectivity and/or backplane(s) 450 as previously described in relationto FIG. 3.

One skilled in the art will recognize that network chassis may realizeclient-side line cards and transport-side line cards using variouschassis architectures and line card structures. Furthermore, the chassisand line card architecture may vary across various chasses known by oneof skill in the art.

If a terminal node is deployed, then the client-side line cards 420provide two-way communication between the transport network and theclient device. In so doing, the client-side line cards 420 are able tomap client data received from the client device into a transport frameso that it may be communicated through the transport network. Theclient-side line cards 420 are also able to extract client data from atransport frame and map this extracted data into the appropriate framestructure of the client device.

If a drop site is deployed, then the client-side line cards 420 providetwo-way communication between the transport network and the clientdevice on which client data is extracted from transport frames andmapped into a client signal.

Although these nodes have been described as having client-side ortransport-side line cards, these sites may have other types of cardsthat are relevant to the deployment of equipment therein. For example, aTributary Extender Module may be provided within a chassis slot thateffectively adds bandwidth to one or more other client-side line cards.In addition, other types of cards may also be relevant to a deploymentdesign such as management cards. Further yet, other components at a sitemay be relevant to the deployment design such as optical multiplexersthat generate optical signal groups that are transported in a networkand optical demultiplexers that separate these optical signal groupsinto individual wavelengths.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary backplane configuration that may beanalyzed during optimization of a deployment design in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention. In this particular example, a nodeis illustrated in which four line cards 540, 545, 550, 555 and coupledvia backplane 510. The connections across the backplane may be eitherbi-directional or uni-directional. This node may be a terminal node, adrop node, an intermediary node or any other node deployed within anetwork. In FIG. 5, a ring toplogy is shown which is an example of apartial mesh toplogy. A full mesh topology may have been defined bydirectly connecting line card (1) 540 to line card (4) 555 and line card(2) 545 to line card (3) 550.

In this example, the backplane connectivity bandwidth varies dependingon the card-to-card path. A first path 515 between line card (1) 540 andline card (3) 550 has X bandwidth. A second path 530 between line card(1) 540 and line card (2) 545 has Y bandwidth. A third path 520 betweenline card (2) 545 and line card (4) 555 has X bandwidth. A fourth path525 between line card (3) 550 and line card (4) 555 has Y bandwidth.These differing bandwidth paths through the backplane 510 enable linecard placement optimization so that a maximum or near-maximum amount oftraffic through the backplane 510 may be realized. If line cardplacement is done incorrectly, then one path through the backplane 510may act as a bottleneck while other paths are far below capacity.

In addition, this ring topology does not have point-to-pointconnectivity between each line card. In this example, there is not adirect connection between line card (2) 545 and line card (3) 550, andbetween line card (1) 540 and line card (4) 555. If traffic is to becommunicated between these cards, then a double-hop path must be used.

This backplane topology enables optimization of line card placement tomaximize the efficiency of traffic flow through the backplane 510 andutilization of the line cards. Utilization is defined as representingthe amount of bandwidth being used on a line card or backplaneconnection versus the capacity of the particular line card or backplaneconnection.

One skilled in the art will recognize that other backplane topologiesand varying bandwidth paths may be relevant to the optimization of linecard placement within a chassis. Furthermore, other types ofconnectivity such as ROADM connectivity and patch cables may affectoptimal positioning of line cards within a chassis.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a baseline marker generator and anetwork planner in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.A network planner 620 receives a set of constraints 650 and generates aproposed network deployment 660. In certain embodiments of theinvention, the network planner iteratively generates multiple proposednetwork deployments that are analyzed and a most-optimal deployment isselected. The determination of which of these deployments ismost-optimal includes a sequence of procedures in which equipmentdeployments are analyzed at chassis, node and network granularities. Incertain embodiments, this most-optimal deployment represents the leastnumber of line cards (including transport-side line cards, client-sideline cards, and other cards such as transport expander modules) thatsatisfies a given topology and demand set where all routes follow anopen shortest path first procedure and the network adheres to the nodalconstraints therein.

The accuracy of this most-optimal deployment may be compared to abaseline marker to allow a network engineer a metric to judge thequality of the most-optimal deployment. This comparison may generate adifferential percentage representing the difference between themost-optimal deployment and a baseline marker 640.

In various embodiments of the invention, a baseline marker generator 610receives a set of relaxed constraints 630 and generates the baselinemarker 640. This set of relaxed constrains 630 is a smaller set ofinformation than that of the set of constraints 650 and requires lessprocessing resources to generate the baseline marker 640. For example,the set of relaxed constraints 630 may be a subset of the set ofconstraints 650. In other examples, the set of relaxed constraints 630comprises a portion of the set of constraints 650. In certainembodiments, the set of relaxed constraints 630 may focus more onnetwork demands so that an absolute minimum performance threshold is metif these relaxed constraints are satisfied.

In various embodiments of the invention, the set of constraints 650includes open shortest path first calculations, protected pathdiversity, connectivity between a transport-side line card and anoptical multiplexer or demultiplexer, bandwidth backplane analysis, fullcross-connect chassis constraints (e.g., inter-chassis connectionconstraints), client-side line card exhaustion, protected end-pointdiversity, optical-electrical marked unavailable optical channel group(i.e., insufficient bandwidth or bandwidth mismatch on the client-sideline cards), port diversity on a chassis, multi-chassis interconnection,maximum line cards available to a chassis. Other constraints may includebackplane topology, ROADM connectivity and express-thru connectivity.One skilled in the art will recognize that other network demands mayalso be included in the set of constraints 650.

In various embodiments of the invention, the set of relaxed constraints630 is a subset of the set of constraints 650 may include shortest pathcalculations, protected path diversity and connectivity betweentransport-side line cards and optical multiplexers/demultiplexers.

The network deployment 660 generated by the network planner 620 includesinformation about networking equipment, and the location andconfiguration of this equipment within a network node. For example, thisinformation includes network element characteristics such as chassistype and quantity, circuit pack quantity and type, slots assignments andfiber connectivity. This information may also include network linkcharacteristics such as provisioning links (e.g., supported circuittypes and quantities, and capacity utilization) and optical spans (e.g.,physical characteristics, link terminating equipment, and photonic orpassive attenuation device or dispersion compensation fiberrequirements). The network deployment information may include circuitinformation such as working/protect routes, circuit layout at each nodeincluding ingress/egress on optical multiplexer/demultiplexer,ingress/egress on line cards, and transit line card information, andgraphical circuit trace information.

FIG. 7 illustrates the relationship between a baseline marker 725 and anetwork deployment design or heuristic 735, and how this relationshipmay be used to approach an optimal 730 solution in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention. In a first diagram 710, an optimaldeployment solution 730 is shown being located between a baseline marker725, generated from relaxed constraints, and a network deployment designor heuristic 735. An optimal solution 730 may be positioned on orbetween the baseline marker 725 and the heuristic 735.

The network deployment design or heuristic 735 may be incrementallymoved toward the optimal solution 730 by iteratively progressing throughdifferent deployment solutions until a preferred solution is achieved.In various embodiments of the invention, this iterative processcontinues as the total amount of equipment deployed decreases in each ofthe iterations. Once the total amount of equipment does not decreaserelative to previous iterations, then the process ends. As heuristicprocesses are developed, this baseline marker 725 may be used to gaugethe effectiveness of input parameters within these developed processes.In many scenarios, the preferred solution is not the optimal solution730 but is close to it. The baseline marker 710 may be used as a gaugeto analyze the accuracy of the preferred solution relative to theoptimal solution 730.

The second diagram 720 shows a method in which a preferred solution maybe improved and approach the optimal solution 730. This process includesanalyzing different deployments so that multiple baseline markers 725are generated in an attempt to shift 750 the baseline marker closer tothe optimal solution 730. The process also includes analyzing thedifferent deployments to that multiple heuristic values 735 aregenerated to shift 760 the heuristic value closer to the optimalsolution 730.

As the difference between the baseline marker 725 and the heuristicvalue 735 decreases, a network engineer is able to more effectivelyprogress towards the optimal solution 730. This difference may also beused to gauge the effectiveness of manual preplacement of equipment.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the optimization analysis isperformed incrementally node-by-node during which each incremental nodeanalysis looks at deployment configurations within a node and theresulting improvement or degradation of the overall equipment deploymentfor the entire network. This incremental analysis continues until atrigger ends the iterative analysis and a “most-optimal” deploymentconfiguration is selected.

The transit traffic through the node is analyzed to initially determinethe equipment placed within the node. In various embodiments of theinvention, this analysis comprises the steps of determining whether agiven nodal demand requires a new line card or line card pair to beinserted within the node. A nodal flow is defined as the sum of thebandwidth of all circuits traversing or terminating on a single nodeorganized by the ingress and egress directions represented by the nextnode of the circuit path which define the direction of the circuits. Ifa demand's nodal flow is common with a nodal flow already in a chassis(i.e., both nodal flows have the same direction) and the demand's nodalflow exceeds the existing capacity of installed cards, then another linecard or line card pair is allocated within the node (this may or may notbe in the same chassis for which nodal flow was analyzed). However, ifthe demand's nodal flow is not common with any of the nodal flowsalready in the chassis, then a check is performed to determine thedemand's related nodal flows and the number of directions required. Ifthe number of directions required exceeds the available slots, thenadditional line cards are allocated in a different chassis. This stepeffectively ensures that the transport traffic demand on the node can beproperly serviced by the number of transport-side line cards insertedwithin the node chassis or chasses.

The drop traffic or client traffic at a node is analyzed to alsodetermine equipment placed within the node. In certain embodiments ofthe invention, this analysis includes checking drop requirements foreach demand before allocating a line card or line card pair in the lastslot of a chassis. If the drop bandwidth requirements for a nodal flowexceeds the drop capacity of the remaining drop capacity of the otherequipped transport-side line cards and the new transports-side linecards, then a transport-side line card is not inserted in the last slot.Instead, additional transport-side line cards may be inserted withinanother chassis in the node being analyzed. In additional embodiments,this analysis of drop or client traffic may track utilization withinclient-side line cards and mixed traffic flows through the node. Thisstep effectively ensures that the client traffic demand on the node canbe properly serviced by the number of client-side line cards insertedwithin the node chassis or chasses.

Backplane bandwidth may also be considered in this analysis of equipmentplacement. As previously discussed, backplane bandwidth may vary acrossdifferent paths on the backplane. Line card location, relative to thesevarying backplane bandwidths, may be considered in finding an optimalsolution. For example, certain line card location configurations maymaximize the efficiency or capacity utilization of the backplanebandwidth. These line card location configurations may be analyzed,within the concept of optimizing line card positioning, to eitherimprove the performance of the node and/or reduce the amount ofequipment used within a deployment.

Deployment within the node is iteratively analyzed relative to routeselection within the node. In certain embodiments, this analysis isintended to preserve each chassis's degrees of freedom, which is thetotal number of possible nodal flow routing opportunities remainingwithin a chassis. For example, if there are two or more line cards/linecard pairs on different chassis available during a route selection, thenthe line card is selected that preserves the highest degree chassisdegrees of freedom for servicing traffic in later deployments. Thispreservation of chassis degrees of freedom provides for more diverseinstallation options (i.e., different signal directions or signal paths)within a chassis so that there is a greater likelihood that the chassiswill be able to service subsequent connections with little or nobuild-out.

FIG. 8 describes a method within an outer optimization frameworkaccording to various embodiments of the invention. Referring to FIG. 8,candidate nodes are detected 810 for which equipment deployment ispossibly exceeding an optimal deployment including the equipment to beused, the placement or location of this equipment within the node, andresource consumption. For example, ingress/egress traffic flow isanalyzed so that certain candidate nodes are identified on whichinefficient line card utilization may be optimized. The candidate nodeis incremented 820, except the initial node prior to analysis, toprogress the analysis through each of the candidate nodes. A count andlocation is stored 830 of the transport-side line cards for each of thecandidate nodes previously identified.

Information about the candidate node be analyzed is stored 840 for useduring the analysis. This information may include, but is not limitedto, the signals within candidate links on the candidate node, the numberof transport-side line cards in the candidate node, the nodal flowsthrough the candidate node, and the circuits on the candidate node.

The line card utilization 850 on the node is analyzed to determinewhether a more efficient configuration of line cards can reduce thenumber of cards that service the nodal traffic. One example of thisanalysis of line card utilization is described in FIG. 9.

A network system analysis is performed to determine whether a totalreduction in deployed equipment resulted from nodal analysis of linecard utilization. If such a total reduction occurred, then theoptimization is marked as an improvement and the method loops to step830 for further iterative optimization of the equipment deployment. Ifthere was not a total reduction, then the nodal configuration isreverted 860 to its previous configuration.

The nodal flow through the candidate node is analyzed 870 to determinewhether a more efficient nodal flow configuration reduces the amount ofequipment deployed. One example of this nodal flow optimization isdescribed in FIG. 10.

Once again, a network system analysis is performed to determine whethera total reduction in deployed equipment resulted from nodal analysis ofnodal flow utilization. If such a total reduction occurred, then theoptimization is marked as an improvement and the method loops to step830 for further iterative optimization of the equipment deployment. Ifthere was not a total reduction, then the nodal configuration isreverted 880 to its previous configuration. The processes loops back tostep 820 to increment to the next candidate node for optimizationanalysis until all of the candidate nodes have been analyzed.

In certain embodiments of the invention, after all of the detectedcandidate links have been analyzed and a preferred deploymentidentified, the process restarts in which candidate nodes are identifiedwithin the preferred deployment. This iterative process continues untilan identified preferred deployment on any of the nodes fails to providean equipment reduction from the previous preferred deployment.

In various embodiments of the post-processing heuristics, the outeroptimization framework is provided such that all sites, candidate linksare detected and each candidate link identifies a site and link in thedirection of a node pair within the transport network. For eachcandidate link, a count and location is stored for all of thetransport-side line cards and circuits within the transport network.Various characteristics of each candidate link is identified including,but not limited to, the optical channel groups transmitted over thecandidate link, the transport-side line cards connected to the candidatelink, nodal flows over the candidate link, and circuits over thecandidate link.

As mentioned above, the post-processing heuristics optimize equipmentdeployment using various methods of optimization including an analysisof line card utilization. These post-processing heuristics are analyzedfirst at the node, a reconfiguration of equipment within the nodeoccurs, and then a subsequent determination is performed to see if anoverall reduction in the deployed equipment in the network results. Forexample, post-processing heuristics may reduce the total number of linecards within a single node by two, but result in greater than twoadditional line cards being inserted at other node within a network.Such a result would not improve the network deployment and would bediscarded. However, if the reduction of two line cards at the node beinganalyzed results in zero or one additional card be required on any othernode in the network, then the overall equipment count in the deploymenthas been reduced and this change would be identified as an improvementto the equipment deployment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for analyzing utilization ofline cards so that deployed equipment may be reduced according tovarious embodiments of the invention. In this method, a plurality ofcircuit paths is unrouted 910 on a candidate link while other networkequipment is left in place. A circuit path is defined as the routethrough the network from the source node to the destination nodeidentifying at least some of the intermediate nodes between the sourceand destination nodes. Typically, this plurality of circuit paths is allof the circuit paths on a particular line card.

Circuits are rerouted 930 back onto the candidate link and grouped bynodal flow on each of the optical channel groups received by the chassisor chasses in the node. As previously described, nodal flow is definedas the sum of the bandwidth of all circuits traversing or terminating ona single node organized by the ingress and egress directions representedby the next node of the circuit path. A determination is done as towhether all the circuits were able to be routed 940 back onto thecandidate link using the new rerouted configuration. This rerouting ofcircuit is done iteratively so that multiple configurations areprogressed through and analyzed in relation to their reduction ofequipment in the network. If all of the circuits were routed, then anyunused equipment is removed 950 and a state change is identified. Aspreviously described, the state of the network comprises the locationand placement of line cards within a particular deploymentconfiguration.

If only two non-tributary expander module cards remain in the chassis,then these cards are placed 960 into slots within the chassis that offerthe least amount of backplane constraints for future demands transitingthe chassis. Examples of such non-tributary expander module cardsinclude a line card that adds or drops client traffic to/from thenetwork. Thereafter, the process returns to the outer optimizationframework 970.

If all of the circuits were not able to be routed, then line cards andcircuits are restored 955 to previous locations. Thereafter, the processis restarted and the circuits are unrouted and re-routed again to tryand find an improved circuit configuration on the particular linkcandidate.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method for reordering of nodal flows to optimizedeployment and configuration of equipment according to variousembodiments of the invention. For a particular candidate link, allcircuits are unrouted and all equipment is removed that was affected bythese unrouted circuits within the various network nodes.

The unrouted circuits are ordered 1010 according to nodal flows,end-to-end flows, and rates. For example, circuits of 100 G, 40 G, 10 Gand 2.5 G may be grouped and ordered accordingly. If a nodal flow isgreater than 100 G, then the flow is split into 100 G groups of nodalflows and a single remainder nodal flow. This grouping allows for anattempt to more efficiently map nodal flows to line card and backplanebandwidth constraints on the affected nodes.

The nodal flows are categorized 1020. In certain embodiments of theinvention, nodal flows are categorized into three types: (1) 100 Gtransit nodal flows for those transiting this node with a nodal flowsize of 100 G, (2) all other transiting nodal flows, such as partialnodal flows, (3) and add/drop flows. One skilled in the art willrecognize that numerous categorization schemes may be used to categorizethese nodal flows. For example, if a line card has a bandwidth capacityof 40 G, then the nodal flow size may be incremented in 40 G, 10 G, and2.5 G increments.

The circuits are reordered 1030 by nodal flow categories and connectedto corresponding line cards to improve line card and bandwidthconnectivity capacity utilization. For purposes of clarity, thisreordering is described in relation to FIG. 5 in which four line cardsare shown with corresponding backplane connectivity. In certainembodiments of the invention, the circuits are reordered according tothe following:

(a) pairs of 100 G nodal flows with four different network directions(e.g., a North, South, West, and East direction), such as those with nocommon direction among the two pairs, (i.e., the nodal flow traversesline cards (1), (2), (3), (4) where each line card has a differentdirection) are grouped and routed;

(b) pairs of 100 G nodal flows with three different directions, in whichcertain nodal flows have one common direction (e.g., nodal flows arerouted from line card (1) to line card (3), and from line card (2) toline card (3)) are grouped and routed;

(c) remaining pairs of 100 G nodal flows are grouped and routed;

(d) use exhaustive search criteria for partial nodal flows is performedso that larger nodal group may be created by identifying and groupingpartial nodal flows having the same direction. These newly createdlarger nodal flows are re-routed across an appropriate chassis.

In certain embodiments of the invention, these grouping are evaluated sothat flows are selected and prioritized according to these criteria.First, the groupings are analyzed to identify if there is a set of flowssuch that the largest number of flows fit within a chassis. For example,if the chassis in FIG. 5 is analyzed, then a maximum of six nodal flowsmay be communicated across the backplane.

Second, the groupings are analyzed to try and find nodal flowconfigurations that require the smallest number of line cards in thechassis. Next, priority is given to nodal flow or flows that are in thedirection of a problematic or particular nodal flow direction. Forexample, an inefficiently routed nodal flow may be given priority in areconfiguration of flows through a chassis. Another factor inprioritizing the nodal flow grouping is giving nodal flows that satisfythe largest bandwidth across a backplane higher priority. One skilled inthe art will recognize that other factors may be used to prioritize andreconfigure nodal flow through a chassis backplane. Thereafter, theadd/drop flows are inserted to best align with the backplane bandwidthand client-side line card locations.

This routing of circuits is performed to include and relate with thenodal flow information 1040. In various embodiments of the invention,this nodal flow information includes the size of the circuit, the sizeof the nodal flow and the remaining bandwidth in flow yet to be routed.This nodal flow information is also used to influence 1050 placement ofthe line cards. In certain embodiments of the invention, if theremaining bandwidth for the circuit's nodal flow does not fit within theavailable nodal flow bandwidth, then new equipment is deployed for thiscircuit. Thereafter, a state change is marked if an overall decrease indeployed equipment is realized and is returned 1060 to the outeroptimization framework.

This reordering of nodal flows potentially reduces the number ofdeployed line cards by attempting to more efficiently match the locationof line cards within the chassis to the backplane bandwidth andconnectivity characteristics thereof.

FIG. 11A illustrates an exemplary multi-chassis deployment in whichfractional utilization across multiple cards is optimized. A firstchassis 1101 is shown in which nodal flow through the chassis backplaneis not optimized. In this example, nodal flow of 20 G is communicatedfrom direction A to direction B. Nodal flow of Y+10 G is communicatedfrom direction A to direction C. As previously illustrated in FIG. 5,the backplane has different connectivity bandwidths between line cards.

In the unoptimized scenario, a 20 G nodal flow 1121 is routed between afirst line card 1125 having a direction A and a second line card 1116having a direction B. A Y nodal flow 1120 is routed between the firstline card line 1125 and a third line card 1110. This Y nodal flow 1120utilized the full connectivity bandwidth on the backplane. A 10 G nodalflow is routed between a fourth line card 1115 having a direction A andthe third line card 1110 having a direction C.

This fractional utilization of line cards is optimized by identifying amore configuration of the cards in accordance with various embodimentsof the invention. An optimized second chassis 1102 is shown in which thenumber of cards servicing nodal flow is reduced. In this example, the 20G nodal flow 1129 is communicated between a fourth line card 1127 havinga direction of A and a second line card 1128 having a direction of B. Anodal flow of 10 G+Y 1130 is communicated between the fourth line card1127 and a third line card 1126 having a direction of C.

This optimized configuration reduces the number of cards used to servicethe two nodal flows of 20 G from direction A to B, and 10 G+Y fromdirection A to C. In particular, the first line card 1131 is no longerneeded within the second chassis 1102.

FIGS. 11B and 11C illustrate examples of nodal flow reorganizationaccording to various embodiments of the invention. FIG. 11B shows anunoptimized multi-chassis deployment. In this example, there are three10 G nodal flows through the node. In this initial configuration, afirst 10 G nodal flow 1165 is between a first line card 1160 having adirection of D and a second line card 1161 having a direction E, bothcards in a first chassis 1103. A second 10G nodal flow 1166 is between athird line card 1162 having a direction of A and a fourth line card 1163having a direction B, both cards also being in the first chassis 1103.

A second chassis 1104 contains a third 10G nodal flow 1175 between afifth line card 1170 having a direction of A and a second line card 1171having a direction C. Embodiments of the invention identify nodal flowreorganization to try and optimize this nodal flow and reduce the numberof line cards required to service them.

FIG. 11C organizes the nodal flows to reduce the number of cards toservice four nodal flows using three line cards. In this example, thefirst chassis 1103 is reordered with the second nodal flow 1166 beingcommunicated between a third line card 1182 having a direction A and afourth line card 1183 having a direction B. The third nodal flow 1175 isalso reordered within the first chassis between the third line card 1182and a first line card 1180 having a direction C.

The first nodal flow 1165 is communicated across the reordered secondchassis 1104 between a fifth line card 1190 having a direction D and asixth line card 1191 having a direction E. The result of this circuitunrouting, nodal flow grouping, and nodal flow re-routing has reducedthe number of line cards within the node because the second line card1181 in the first chassis 1103 is not servicing any circuits and may beremoved. Although other cards shown within the second chassis 1104 havenot been described, one skilled in the art will recognize that iftraffic resides on these cards, then this traffic would be subject tothe optimization method described above.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the eight line cards on thetwo chassis could have been removed and optimally configured to servicethe unrouted circuits. Such a removal and replacement of line cards mayfurther optimize the nodal flow efficiency of the node and allow furtherreduction of equipment. Additionally, embodiments of this method may beapplied to the optimization of add/drop nodes, termination nodes andother junction nodes in which nodal flows are more efficiently alignedto bandwidth between client-side line cards and transport-side linecards.

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart for a method of circuit ordering basedon exhaustive nodal flow search in order to reduce the number of chassisaccording to various embodiments of the invention. In particular, thismethod exhaustively searches through the remaining nodal flows to findan order that will pack the largest number of nodal flows into the nextchassis and then iterate for subsequent chasses.

Line card placement is determined 1210 for larger bandwidth slots byiterating through each candidate flow. Thereafter, line card placementis determined 1220 for a first lower bandwidth slot by iterating througheach remaining candidate flow searching for those nodal flows matchinglarger bandwidth slots. Line card placement is further determined 1230for a second lower bandwidth slot by iterating through each remainingcandidate flow if one or more flow directions can be resolved.

This circuit ordering provides an improved line card placement withinthe chassis and matches the placement of the line cards to the bandwidthof paths through the chassis backplane.

The foregoing description of the invention has been described forpurposes of clarity and understanding. It is not intended to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Various modifications may bepossible within the scope and equivalence of the appended claims.

1. A method for optimizing a configuration of a network node having aplurality of transport-side line cards and a backplane, the methodcomprising: identifying a first plurality of transport-side line cardsthat route a plurality of traffic circuits in a candidate link on thenetwork node; routing the plurality of traffic circuits in the candidatelink across a second plurality of transport-side line cards and orderingnodal flows across the backplane; and wherein the first plurality oftransport-side line cards is larger than the second plurality oftransport-side line cards.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the nodalflows are ordered across a backplane comprising the steps of: unroutingthe plurality of traffic circuits from a previous configuration;categorizing the unrouted traffic circuits into a plurality of nodalflows; and routing the plurality of categorized nodal flows in thenetwork node to improve bandwidth utilization of at least one backplaneconnection in the network node.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein thecategorized nodal flows are categorized according to flow rates.
 4. Themethod of claim 2 further comprising the step of using nodal flowinformation to route the plurality of nodal flows through the networknode to preserve a highest number of chassis degrees of freedom forfuture demands.
 5. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step ofgrouping a plurality of partial node flows, all having a same directionthrough the network node, and routing the grouped plurality of partialnode flows on the at least one backplane connection.
 6. The method ofclaim 2 further comprising the steps of determining whether the routingof traffic circuits and ordering of nodal flows resulted in a totalnetwork reduction of transport-side line cards used to satisfy networkdemands.
 7. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step ofiteratively progressing through a plurality of routed traffic circuitand ordered nodal flow configurations to select a preferredconfiguration based on a total cost of equipment deployed within anetwork.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the intermediary nodecomprises a backplane having a topology selected from a group consistingof a full mesh topology and a partial mesh topology.
 9. The method ofclaim 7 wherein the partial mesh topology is a ring topology.
 10. Acomputer readable medium comprising computer instructions forimplementing the method of claim
 1. 11. A system for approximating anaccuracy of a preferred equipment deployment solution for a network, thesystem comprising: a network planner, coupled to receive a set ofconstraints associated with the network, that generates a preferrednetwork deployment solution; and a baseline marker generator, coupled toreceive a set of relaxed constraints associated with the network, thatgenerates a baseline marker; and wherein the baseline marker is a gaugefrom which an accuracy approximation of the preferred network deploymentsolution is provided relative to an optimal solution.
 12. The system ofclaim 11 wherein the set of constraints comprises at least oneconstraint selected from a group consisting of shortest pathcalculations, protected path diversity, connectivity between atransport-side line card and an optical multiplexer or demultiplexer,bandwidth backplane analysis, full cross-connect chassis constraints,client-side line card exhaustion, protected end-point diversity,optical-electrical marked unavailable optical channel group, portdiversity on a chassis, multi-chassis interconnection, maximum linecards available to a chassis.
 13. The system of claim 11 wherein the setof relaxed constraints comprises a subset of the set of constraints. 14.The system of claim 13 wherein the set of relaxed constraints comprisesat least one constraint selected from a group consisting of shortestpath calculations, protected path diversity, connectivity between atransport-side line card and an optical multiplexer or demultiplexer.15. A method for improving a deployment of equipment within a networknode, the method comprising: identifying a plurality of transport-sideline cards that satisfies transport-side traffic demands on the networknode; identifying a plurality of client-side line cards that satisfiesclient-side traffic demands on the network node; routing trafficcircuits in a candidate link of the network node to increase line cardutilization on at least one transport-side line card in the plurality oftransport-side line cards; and ordering nodal flows across the networknode to improve bandwidth alignment between the plurality oftransport-side line cards and the plurality of client-side line cards;and placing the plurality of client-side line cards within a pluralityof chassis slots to terminate the ordered nodal flows on the networknode.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the plurality of client-sideline cards comprise a first set of client-side line cards having aplurality of ports that interface with a client device and a second setof client-side line cards that provide additional bandwidth capacity toat least one client-side line card in the first set of client-side linecards.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first set of client-sideline cards operates in accordance with at least one networking standardselected from a group consisting of a SONET standard, an Ethernetstandard, a Fibre Channel standard, and an Optical Transport Networkstandard.
 18. The method of claim 15 wherein the plurality oftransport-side line cards comprises integrated optical components thattransmit and combine a plurality of optical signals into a WDM signal.19. The method of claim 18 wherein the plurality of transport-side linecards further comprises integrated optical components that demultiplex aWDM signal into a plurality of optical channels and convert theplurality of channels to a plurality of electrical signals.
 20. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the step of reordering nodal flows comprises:unrouting the traffic circuits from a previous configuration;categorizing the unrouted traffic circuits into a plurality of nodalflows between the plurality of transport-side line cards and theplurality of client-side line cards; and routing the plurality ofcategorized nodal flows in the intermediary network node to improvebandwidth alignment between the plurality of transport-side line cardsand the plurality of client-side line cards.
 21. The method of claim 20wherein the categorized nodal flows are categorized according to flowrates and nodal flow types.
 22. The method of claim 21 furthercomprising the step of using nodal flow information to route theplurality of nodal flows through the termination node to preserve ahighest number of chassis degrees of freedom for future demands.
 23. Amethod for improving bandwidth utilization across a plurality of linecards, the method comprising: identify at least one candidate link on aplurality of line cards; unroute a plurality of circuits within the atleast one line card on candidate link from the plurality of line cards;reroute the plurality of circuits to the plurality of line cards basedon nodal flows of the plurality of circuits; identify whether all of theplurality of circuits were able to be rerouted on the plurality of linecard and determine whether a first line card within the plurality ofline cards does not service any of the plurality of circuits; and removethe first card from the plurality of circuits.
 24. The method of claim23 wherein the at least one candidate link has a nodal flow that is lessthan the line card bandwidth by an amount greater than a bandwidth of anoptical signal group within the plurality of optical signal groups. 25.A method for improving a deployment of equipment within a network node,the method comprising: identifying a plurality of transport-side linecards that satisfy traffic demands on the network node; reroutingtraffic circuits in a candidate link on the network node to increaseline card utilization on at least one transport-side line card in theplurality of transport-side line cards; and reordering nodal flowsacross the network node to increase backplane bandwidth utilization ofat least one backplane connection in the intermediary network node.